Electric Avenue is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Christchurch this year. Photo: SUPPLIED / TEAM EVENT
Music lovers are spoiled for choice when it comes to summer festivals across the motu, but rising production and artist costs - along with dwindling ticket sales - are proving challenging for promoters.
American rockers Alien Ant Farm and New Zealand metal band Blindspott were meant to be headlining Paradise City in Auckland next month, but low ticket sales put paid to that.
The rock festival is one of four music festivals that will not go ahead this summer, along with Bay Dreams, Juicy Fest and the Timeless Summer Tour featuring Boy George.
On the flip side, Duco Events chief executive Craig Cotton said Auckland's Synthony in the Domain on 29 March was on target to sell out.
"We're about well over sort of 80 percent sold now, so we're on track to hit a record number.
"Last year we had about 33,000 people come through the gate and this year we're looking at properly north of 37,000."
Cotton said with same day sales, the event would likely sell 40,000 tickets.
He said Synthony, which began in New Zealand in 2017, was successful because of the type of music and the line-up of artists, which this year included international acts Basement Jaxx and Darude.
"Synthony is just an outstanding product, you know in terms of it's 30 years of the best dance anthems, remastered and recovered and mixed with obviously a full orchestra which again this year is the Auckland Philharmonia, with lights and visuals."
Team Event managing director Callam Mitchell, who puts on Electric Avenue in Christchurch on 21-22 February, said for the first time the festival in Hagley Park will run over two days.
"It's our 10th birthday and the move to two days definitely generated a lot of excitement."
He said it was a combination of things that drew the crowds to snap up tickets so fast.
"I think having a great line-up is probably the primary motivator for a lot of people to attend."
Mitchell said the festival practically sold out within hours of tickets being released in September, and only a handful of VIP tickets remained.
They cost $990 for a weekend pass, but included continuous food and beverage and a seated area.
He said the financial hurdles faced by the festival industry around the world were the same in New Zealand.
"Production costs and the costs to produce an event are rising at a rapid rate. It's really hard to keep up with that.
"Securing big name international artists are getting more and more expensive and coupled with the declining New Zealand dollar it's definitely making life very challenging."
Shihad perform at Meatstock in Hamilton. Photo: Supplied
Jay Beaumont is the Australian co-founder of Meatstock, a two-day music and barbecue festival at Mystery Creek in Hamilton on 14-15 February.
He said the current festival climate was a bloodbath.
Meatstock co-founder Jay Beaumont. Photo: Supplied
"Costs are through the roof. We are spending three times more to run an event than what we were pre-Covid.
"So the cost of running the event whether that's insurance, or staffing, or everything from venue hire to the cost of goods, is dramatically more expensive than pre-Covid."
Beaumont said it was about finding a balance between what people were prepared to pay and giving them bang for buck.
"It's very difficult because the bigger the bands you put on, the more expensive the festival it is, the more you've gotta charge for tickets, and then the less amount of people with that much disposable income there are, so it's a real challenging market at the moment."
Beaumont said people were looking for value for money right now.
He said Meatstock - which would feature Ladyhawke, Shapeshifter and Kora among others - was lucky because of its long history and loyal clientele, and that underpinning the great music is a food festival.
Meanwhile the One Love reggae festival attracted large crowds when it returned to Tauranga over Auckland Anniversary Weekend.
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